Outside Looking In
by Politics.and.Prose
Summary: The aftermath of the conference championship game. Puckleberry Sam Friendship. Brief mentions of Finchel, Quam and Quick. Limited Fuinn. Potential Luck & Samtana. Spoilers, I guess. M for language.


Brief, pretty well known, not in great detail, mainly spec spoilers involved.

Please don't ask. This all started when I saw Sam holding Rachel back in SSBS.

.**xo**.

"You should have let me hit him," Rachel said seriously as she looked up at Sam before focusing on the crowd in front of her, trying her hardest not to run into anyone.

"C'mon, Rach," Sam laughed. "That was, like, three weeks ago. I think it's time you move on. I wasn't gonna let you get hurt."

"I could have done some real damage, you know. Probably more if I had kicked him though," she insisted nonchalantly. "I have very strong legs."

Sam gulped, he hoped not too audibly, and nodded. "Noted."

They were silent for a moment, each lost in their own minds, thinking back on the the big game and all of the events before and after.

Rachel broke the not-entirely-uncomfortable silence when she said, "I never said I was sorry."

"For what?" Sam asked as he put his hand on the small of her back to guide her around a group of rough-housing students.

"For what happened with Quinn."

"That wasn't you fault," Sam said with a shrug. "I pretty much goaded her into it."

Rachel stopped and furrowed her brow, turning to look up at her friend. She figured that meant he didn't know about the first kiss, the one before the kissing booth.

She'd found out through Noah. He'd come to her shortly after the game with a smile and a hug and told her that in no uncertain terms were they never to make out again. He told her that Finn didn't like the idea of them singing together either. (She told him she would sing with whomever she wanted and, since she and Finn were no longer an item, she could kiss whomever she wanted. Not that she wanted to kiss him. He'd thrown her a smirk and called her a liar.)

But then he'd told her that Finn and Quinn had kissed again. While Quinn was with Sam.

(It took everything she had in her to not start ranting and raving about the crazy, messed up relationship between the four of them – five, if Sam was included.)

She had nodded, heartbroken, and tried to excuse herself. He'd kept her there with a well-placed smile and an "I know what you're feeling right now."

"Rachel?"

She shook her head quickly, as if trying to remove the memory from her mind, and focused on Sam. "She still shouldn't have done it."

"I paid for it."

"Well, then, yes, Sam. You're an idiot," Rachel replied with a roll of her eyes.

They were quite for another minute before Sam responded, "I'm sorry too, you know."

"Don't be," Rachel shrugged. "I should have known it would go back to Quinn. He was in love with her – well, as much as we understand what love is – and they never really got the closure that would allow them to move on."

"Quinn _did_ move on," the blonde replied with raised eyebrows. "To Puck then to me."

"She may have _dated_ other people, but she never moved on." Rachel slowly licked her lips and caught Sam's eyes. "But they've moved on now. Even though it may be to each other again. And once they wake up from whatever strange stupor they're in, she's going to realize that she misses you and she loves you. And then you two will get back together and be happy again."

Sam smiled slightly and moved a hand to rest on Rachel's shoulder. "And you and Finn?"

Rachel flashed a smile that could have been considered slightly pained before pursing her lips and shaking her head quickly, just once. "That ship has sailed, I'm afraid." She cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders before adding with a bright smile, "And that's okay. You know why?"

"Why?" he asked in amusement.

"Because I'm Rachel Berry and I don't need a man to prove my worth."

"Here here!" Sam chuckled before return his hand to the small of her back. "Now let's get to glee."

* * *

"Sup, ladies?" Puck asked the next day as he walked up to the table in the cafeteria where Sam and Rachel sat.

"Hello, Noah," Rachel responded with a smile as she smeared some more peanut butter onto her celery stick. "Having a good day?"

Puck furrowed his brow and turned to Sam. "What's up with her?"

Sam shrugged and took a bite of his burger. "No idea, man," he answered, food still in his mouth. At a stern look from Rachel, he chewed quickly and swallowed harshly before continuing, "She was like that when I got here."

Puck pursed his lips and sighed before dropping down into one of the empty chairs. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing is _up_ with me, Noah," Rachel responded as she placed her celery stick back down onto her plate and folder her hands in her lap. "I just got a very encouraging text message and it's put me in a wonderful mood."

Puck winced slightly and asked in a small, quiet voice, "Does it have anything to do with Finn?"

"Finn?" she asked in surprise. "Goodness no. It has to do with the community theater project that Mercedes, Kurt and I auditioned for."

"Let me guess … you beat Kurt out for the role of the strong female lead."

"Very funny, Noah," she said as she rolled her eyes. "Actually, it turns out that _Mercedes_ is probably going to be playing the role I wished to portray. Which is wonderful for her. But I will also have a role – well, the _lead_ role, I suppose, though it's not the one I auditioned for – and I think Kurt is going to be working _for_ the play not _in_ it."

"I don't get it," Sam said in confusion.

"Kurt said they offered him a position as Assistant Musical Director and he's almost certain he's going to accept the offer."

"So Hummel's gonna be hanging around more?" Puck asked with a small, genuine grin.

"It's _community_ theater, Noah, not McKinley. Though, yes, I can imagine he will be making more time to hang out, as you say, around here and not out at Dalton."

"Sweet."

Both Rachel and Sam started at Puck, confusion written all over their faces.

"He was cool, okay? He didn't take shit. He was honest … and he gave _you_ some real competition."

Rachel blushed slightly. "Thank you, Noah."

"Just wish he could've beaten your ass once or twice. Knock you down a peg or two."

"You're a horrible person," Rachel deadpanned before taking another bite of her celery stick.

"S'not what you said last night," Puck rejoined lasciviously as he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Hi, Lauren!" Rachel said cheerily as she waved and smiled brightly.

"I was kidding!" Puck cried as he turned around, eyes scanning wildly for the girl who had become his latest infatuation. His brow furrowed and a scowl crossed his face as he turned back to see Rachel giggling, her hand covering her mouth and her eyes squeezed shut. "That's not fucking funny," he said fiercely as he pointed at her.

"On the contrary," she returned, giggles still wracking her body, "I think that was the funniest thing I've seen in a while."

Sam snorted into his can of soda and shook his head. "You two are like, the best entertainment this school has."

"Thank you, Sam!"

"Shut the fuck up, Evans."

Sam smiled again before taking a long pull from his grape soda. His eyes scanned the cafeteria as he idly listened to Rachel and Puck debate something-or-other regarding a song for glee club. (He was kind of shocked that Puck started picking up a leadership role when all the new drama with Finn and Quinn …) His mind trailed off as he saw the not-quite-couple in question walk into the cafeteria, smiles on their faces, chatting away like he wasn't sitting there heartbroken.

He was broken from his reverie when he felt a small, cold hand cover his. "Want to go to the library?" Rachel asked gently.

His eyes flickered back to Finn and Quinn before he shook his head and turned his attention back to Rachel. "Nah. Gotta get used to it some time, right?"

Rachel smiled genuinely. "Right. So what we need to do now is find something else for you to focus on."

"What we need to do is get you laid," Puck corrected with a dirty look shot to Rachel.

"Sex isn't always the answer."

"You're such a fucking _girl_," the boy with the mohawk responded with a roll of his eyes.

"Glad you noticed," she responded tartly.

"Hard not to, baby."

"Hi, Lauren," Rachel repeated, another genuine smile on her face.

"Not fallin' for that lame shit again, Berry. How dumb do you think I am?" Puck chuckled.

"Hey, Berry," Lauren responded from right behind Puck.

He paled and mouthed "I hate you so fucking much" to Rachel before turning back to Lauren with a nervous, forced smile on his face. "Hi, babe."

"Screw you," she deadpanned before sitting in the seat next to him.

Rachel giggled before her phone buzzed and she picked it up from the table. She hit a few buttons and smiled widely, an excited squeal escaping.

"What?" Sam asked.

"What? Nothing," Rachel denied. "Nothing at all."

Sam and Puck exchanged a look but shrugged helplessly. "Whatever you say, Rach," Sam concluded.

Rachel smiled as she scanned her phone again, obviously rereading the message, before collecting her trash and standing from the table. "I have to go," she told them. "Lunch was fun. Sam, I'll see you in history. Noah, please go to your math class. Lauren, I'll see you during study hall," she addressed them before turning and flouncing away, a wide smile still stretched across her face.

"The fuck was that?"

"No idea," Sam responded slowly, eyes wide, as he shook his head from side to side.

"Oh please," Lauren said with a roll of her eyes as she opened her package of Yodels. "She's going to meet a boy," she added as she took a large bite.

Puck got a slightly horrified look and his face as he glanced at Sam then let his eyes shoot over to where Finn and Quinn were sitting. "Boy?" he squeaked.

"That's not attractive," Lauren responded before answering, "Yeah. Boy. Probably one with a penis too. What's the big deal?"

Puck and Sam exchanged another look before they both swiveled to look at Finn. "Shit's gonna go down, babe," Puck said seriously. "He's my boy and all, but when the shit flies this time? I'mma have to take up arms with Berry."

"Like in _Avatar_ when …"

"Shut up," Lauren said seriously as she stared at Sam.

Sam's face fell, his eyes moving to the door Rachel exited out of and then back to Puck, silently agreeing with him that no matter how douchey the new guy was, they were going to side with Rachel on this one and not let Finn get all …_Finn_ … about it.

"Game on," Puck whispered before pulling his tray closer to him and taking a large bite of his hamburger.

* * *

Puck and Sam followed Rachel around for the next couple of days. (Though they didn't call it _following her around_ – they called it _Being International Spies Like A Boss_ and had code names.)

"Okay, Beiber –," Puck whispered.

"I hate that code name," Sam whispered in response next to him.

They were crouched down behind a corner, heads close together as they embarked on their mid-day free period stalk of Rachel. Since she didn't outwardly mention any guys or having any dates, they took it upon themselves to monitor at every free moment so they could figure out for themselves who the new dude was.

"Shut the fuck up," Puck shot back absentmindedly. "I saw Legs heading towards the science labs."

"She'd kill you if she knew you called her that."

"Shut up. Whaddaya think she's doing in the science lab?"

"Science?" Sam deadpanned.

"I'mma follow her," Puck told him as he ignored the comment. "Follow me after a count of fifteen. Tatum over and out," he concluded before popping up from his position and sliding along the lockers, eyes open and cataloguing everyone's moves. (He ignored the funny looks he was getting. He was a fucking awesome spy and he knew it.)

Sam exhaled harshly and curled his lip, a frustrated scowl crossing his lips. "You're not Channing Freaking Tatum!" He growled to himself and stood, following after Puck. (Though he walked like a normal human being and even said hello to some people in the hall as he did.)

"She went in there," Puck whispered as Sam reached him, pointing to room 222. "I was waiting for you to bust her."

"We're not _busting_ her. She's not doing anything wrong," the blonde responded with a put-upon sigh.

"Whatever. Let's roll."

"You're a bigger dork than I am."

"Fuck you," Puck shot back. "I'm awesome."

"Uh huh. Can we get this over with? I'm meeting Santana in ten."

Puck furrowed his brow and turned to Sam. "Why?"

Sam just shrugged and motioned to the door. "Can we just …?"

Puck stared at him for a long minute before shrugging and moving to the door, sliding so that Sam's head could fit beside his to peer through the window.

They both froze, mouths open in shock, at the scene that was playing before them.

Inside the room were two people: Rachel and Mike Chang. Nothing unusual about that. What was strange, weird, wrong, was the position they were in.

It wasn't sexual, not at all. It was intimate. Mike had Rachel cradled against his chest, eyes squeezed shut and a content look on his face. They couldn't see Rachel's face but they could see the way her arms were linked tightly around Mike's neck, her fingers buried in his hair.

Both Puck and Sam shot back from the window like they were burned and turned to each other, twin looks of shock on their faces.

"Fuck," Puck whispered as she wearily dragged a hand down over his face.

"Yeah," Sam agreed on a breath, his eyes moving back to lock on the door. "I wish I hadn't seen that."

Puck licked his bottom lip slowly before pulling it between his teeth. "Yeah."

* * *

The days seemed to tick slowly by after that. Rachel and Mike never seemed to show any outward signs of their affair, though Sam did see them walking down the hall together more frequently and Puck saw some strange, long, intense looks passing between them both in and out of glee.

But there was no breakup of Mike and Tina, no jealous Rachel getting angry because she seemed to be a dirty little secret (again), no suspicious Tina because Mike seemed to be spending a lot of time with Rachel and not her.

Sam and Puck were admittedly confused.

"Why are you guys staring at Yentl?"

"Santana!" Sam cried as he turned to see the Latina standing beside Puck.

"Answer?" she demanded with an arched brow.

"Nothing," Puck responded. "Shut up. Go away."

"Bite me, Puckerman," she responded blandly. "Why are you staring at her?"

"It's really nothing," Sam lied unconvincingly.

"Liar. Tell me." She lowered her voice and swiveled her eyes around the hall before asking, "She finally get a boyfriend?"

Puck averted his eyes and Sam let out this little squeak that had her grinning maliciously and clapping her hands. "Good for her. She needs to move on. Get laid. Forget about the Fidiot."

"Finn didn't do anything wrong by being with …" Puck started before trailing off, eyes shifting to Sam.

"Quinn," Sam concluded.

Santana turned her attention to the blonde, her hand moving up to cup his jaw. "Fuck her," she said seriously. "She's being a bitch. You deserve better," she continued before standing on her toes and pressing her lips to his.

Puck furrowed his brow, eyes darting between Sam and Santana. "The fuck?"

"Shut up," Santana mumbled against Sam's lips. She kissed him deeply, confidently, for a few more seconds before pulling away. "So why were you staring at Rachel?" she asked n a soft voice.

"We think Mike's cheating on Tina with her," Sam responded dazedly.

"Fuck," Puck cursed harshly as he grabbed Sam by the jacket. "How the fuck are you pussy whipped from a kiss? You're so fucking lame."

"Huh?" Sam asked as the focus came back to his eyes. "What?"

Puck pursed his lips and motioned to Santana, who was now staring at Rachel, who was smiling and tinkering on her cell phone. "One kiss and you're spilling the secret?"

"I what?" Sam asked in horror.

"You're a shitty spy," Puck told him seriously before turning and walking down the hallway.

* * *

Santana stayed quiet about it, much to the surprise of both Puck and Sam. In fact, she usually went on their covert spying missions with them when she had the time.

She even bought them mini walkie talkies.

"Selena here," Sam heard crackled over his radio as he stood at his "post" outside the auditorium. "They're moving your way, Beiber."

"Still hate that name," he responded.

"Still don't give a fuck," Puck answered. "Any hand holding?"

"Negative."

"Looped arms?"

"She only did that gay shit with you," Santana answered.

"Shut the fuck up. Any proof?"

"I got them," Sam interjected. "He has his arm around her shoulders and they're smiling, but that's about all."

"This is bullshit," Puck swore. "There's no way they're this good at hiding it. Fuck, when Berry was still with St. Douche _everyone_ knew about it."

"Maybe they're not together," Santana's voice crackled through the radio.

"No other explanation," Sam rationalized. "They're having a secret affair and they're _good _at it."

"It's like we're in the Twilight Zone," Puck whispered.

"I hate you both," Santana said in parting.

"She doesn't hate me," Sam sing-songed.

"You're gross," Puck responded. "Keep an eye on them. I'm going to go find Corpse Bride."

"She has a better nickname than I do."

"Give it up about the nickname!"

"Just sayin'," Sam mumbled to himself as he trained his eyes on Mike and Rachel as they walked to the front of the auditorium and took a seat in the front row, heads close together.

He couldn't decide whether he wanted to see them kiss or not. Sure, it would be the proof they needed but still … it would kill Mike and Tina's relationship. Tina would know her boyfriend was a cheater.

He knew what it felt to be cheated on and he would never wish that on anyone. Ever.

Though he was pretty sure it was better to know than to not.

* * *

It took another six days for Sam to finally lose it. He rationalized that it was the combination of his new _whatever_ with Santana, seeing Mike and Tina happy, seeing Puck wearing down Lauren day by day, seeing Finn and Quinn walking the halls like King and Queen McKinley, and hearing Rachel laugh like he'd never heard before, that made him stand up in the middle of glee club, turn to his teammates, point at Mike and shout, "He's having an affair with Rachel!"

"What?" Rachel cried in outrage as she shot from her seat.

"Dude! What the …?" Mike asked as he stood as well.

"M-Mike?" Tina questioned, eyes turning to her boyfriend.

"No!" Rachel shouted over the loud mixture of voices that all seemed to be weighing in on Sam's announcement. "It's not true!"

"We _saw_ you!" Sam shouted at Rachel as he indicated himself, Puck and Santana.

"Keep me out of this," the Latina spat back. "I'm the one who said it was probably nothing."

"You were still meddling," Finn shouted at her.

"You shut the hell up," she responded to the quarterback. "Doesn't affect you either way!"

"Rachel's my friend!"

"Funny way of showing it," Puck jumped in. "Gettin' back together with Q an all."

"We're not _together_," Quinn interjected.

"Guys! Mike and I aren't having a secret tryst!"

"Save it, Rachel. We all know you like to steal other guys' boyfriends," Tina told her meanly.

"Guys …" Will tried from his position beside the piano, eyes wide.

"Didn't you use the same line about Sam?" Brittany asked Quinn. "And then you guys were, like, engaged. And then you kissed Finn." She paused, a small pout crossing her face. "That was pretty mean."

"Shut up, Brittany," Tina said.

"Don't tell her to shut up," Artie defended.

"Guy! Calm down!" Will tried again, still not moving from his spot.

"Can I just _please_ have a moment to explain the situation?" Rachel asked as she stomped her foot. "This is all a giant misunderstanding."

"Yeah, guys. I would _never_ cheat on Tina."

"Especially not with someone like _her_," Santana agreed.

"That was out of line," Finn said to Santana, his fists balled at his sides. "There's nothing wrong with Rachel."

"Except the fact that she likes to steal other peoples' boyfriends," Quinn responded. "I'd watch my back, Santana. Now that you've got Sam …"

"Okay. Me and Sam aren't dating," Santana stressed.

"She'll be after him next. Or Artie," she directed to Brittany.

"My brother came out," Mike said loudly, which caused the room to fall silent. He looked over to Rachel, who lowered her head and nodded slightly, then looked at him with encouragement and pride in her eyes. "My brother came out and my parents … they didn't know what to do. They yelled, they screamed. Joe locked himself in his room. I couldn't get him out. And I didn't know anyone who could really help him through it." He paused. "Okay," he admitted. "I thought of Kurt but with everything that went down with him, I figured it would be best to leave him out of it for now." He took a deep breath. "Then I remembered Rachel and her dads." He gave a long look to Tina then turned and offered Rachel a smile. "She helped me get through to him. And now he's helping out with Rachel's dads' charity project for the ACLU. And I figured I would help out too. It's a good cause," he added.

Rachel chewed on her bottom lip before turning to look at Tina. "He loves you, you know. And even if I _had_ tried to seduce him away from you … which I didn't," she added sadly with a glance over to Sam, "he wouldn't have strayed." She took a deep breath. "You should have known better. You need to trust him more, Tina. You accused him at Sectionals and now again today. He _loves_ you," she told Tina seriously. "And he wanted to talk to you about it; he just didn't know how."

Tina turned to look at Mike, who nodded, and she held out her arms. He sighed in relief and moved so they were hugging.

She turned then to Sam with a sad smile on her face. "I'm sorry I made you think that I would do something like that." Her eyes moved to where Quinn was watching, arms crossed, and a scowl across her pretty face. "Again. And I know that it's like an open wound for you. I should have told you," she said softly. "But it wasn't my secret to tell."

"No. I'm sorry," Sam insisted. "I should have known … you're …"

"It's okay," she smiled. She looked over her shoulder to where Mike and Tina were talking quietly, his fingers carding through her hair and her hand cupped around his knee. "They can finally talk about it now." She cleared her throat and took a step back from him. "How exactly did you come to the conclusion that Mike and I were engaging in clandestine encounters anyway?"

"Uhhh … Puck," Sam said as his eyes darted to his friend.

"Screw that, dude," Puck said. "Lauren told us that you were gettin' laid."

"What?" Lauren asked with an arched brow. "When the hell did I say that?"

"That day at lunch when Rachel got the text and took off," Sam reminded her. "You said she was going to go meet a guy."

"And when we saw you a few days later in the science lab," Puck continued, eyes on Rachel, "you two were hugging. Like, you were all close and stuff. It looked really … cozy."

"His brother had just gotten the nerve to sit down and speak with a counselor about all the feelings he was experiencing," Rachel responded. "Mike had texted me to let me know. The hug was for relief." She sighed. "So based on one encounter you believed that he and I were carrying out some long-term secret affair?"

"Maybe not just one encounter," Sam admitted.

"Excuse me?"

Puck shot Finn a dirty look as he chuckled behind them, clearly not caring they knew he was listening to the conversation.

"What? She's hilarious when she gets like this. And when it's not my fault that she is," he added with a serious look.

"Shut up," Puck responded before turning back to Rachel. "It wasn't just one hug we saw."

"What else, exactly, did you see?"

"Uhh … possibly you guys hanging out for, like, a week or something. Sneaking off to the science lab …"

"Or the library …"

"Or the auditorium …"

"Noah!"

Finn barked out a laugh, not bothering to try to hide it.

"You were following me around!" she yelled. "Sneaking around after me? _Stalking _me?"

"Practice for when you're famous, Rach," Finn laughed.

"You stay out of this, Finn Hudson," she said as she rounded on him, finger pointed, a scowl on her face.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered as he sat in his seat and tried to ignore the annoyed look Quinn was shooting him.

"You were following me?"

"Holy shit, dude," Puck said with a huge grin. "We totally pulled it off."

"What're you talking about?" Sam asked slowly, brow furrowed.

"She didn't know we were tailing her! We could totally be boss spies!"

"You're both idiots," Rachel declared. "I don't even know why I'm friends with you."

"It's cuz they're dumb and pretty," Mercedes said as she stood up. "Can we go rehearse now?"

"Of course," Rachel replied brightly as she offered her arm to Mercedes. "Mr. Schue, Mercedes and I will be in the auditorium working on a new number," she informed the teacher as she and her friend left the room.

"Oh … kay," Will responded, though it wasn't necessary, as the girls were already gone.

"You two are lucky as hell," Santana laughed at Puck and Sam. "She could have gone completely apeshit on you."

"Charming as always, Lopez," Puck said as he rolled his eyes.

"She's right though," Finn interjected with a grin as his eyes traveled to the door that Rachel and Mercedes had just left through. "Rachel could have really lost it there. But she didn't." He paused. "It was kinda cool."

"Here we go again," Puck muttered, eyes on his friend, before he turned to Lauren. "So, babe. You. Me. Breadsticks. Tonight?"

She stared at him for a moment. "No," she answered before standing up and moving to the other side of the room to talk to Brittany and Artie.

"The hell do I have to do to get that girl to go out with me?" Puck questioned no one in particular.

"I wouldn't go the _get her drunk and sleep with her_ route," Sam responded seriously.

Puck punched him in the arm and shuffled over to an empty chair. "Can we get this thing goin'? I got fight club tonight."

.**xo**.

_now i'm on the outside looking in _

_not a dollar in my pocket _

_and i'm where i was before _

_can't afford another sin _

_i've never had it easy_

_so i know that in time _

_it'll be just fine _

_i'll do it over again _

[Steve Carlson – Outside Looking In]


End file.
